Bag-mouth expander



Sept. 25, 1923. 11,468,?09

A. J. LA GRANDEUR ET AL BAG MOUTH EXPANDER Filed March 6, 1922 tains to make and use the same.

Patented se t. as, 1923.

ALrnEn LA ennlvnnun AND EDWARD BAG-BIOUTE Application filedMarch 6,

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Be it known that we, Anrnnn '5. LA GRANDEUR and l lnwnnn C, Aniiiinson', citi- Zens of the United 'States, residing atS onierset, in the county of Saint Croix and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Mouth Expanders; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apper- This invention relates toa bag opener or to a device adapted to be placed in the top of a longer sack and to hold the same open during the filling operation. While the device can beanade of a size and material to suit bags of various sizes and material, it is particularly designed to be used with the ordinary paper bags which are used in stores and groceries for carrying various loose materials.

It is an object of this invention to provide automatically expanding member adapted to engage the bag around its top inner edge, which member is provided with a convenient and efficient manipulating means projecting therefrom.

It is more specifically an object of the in vention to provide an automatically expanding; band having a pair of pivoted scissorlike handles attached, one at each end of the band, so that the band can be readily contracted and placed in the bag.

It is still another object of theinvention to have the said handles disposed in a plane offset from the plane of the band so that the. said handles will conveniently project over the top edge of the bag. These and other objects and advantages of theinvention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views, and in which Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a bag showing the device therein;

' F in. 2 is a view in side elevation of the device;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device in contracted position; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view'of the device in expanded position.

Referring to the drawings the device is C. ANDERSON, OF SOMERSET, WISCONSIN.

EXPAN'DER.

1922. Serial No. 541,479.

seen toco nprise a. ring or band member 1, which 1n the embodiment of the invention,

illustrated, is shown as made of a flat strip of resilient material bent into substantially .the form of a hoop. The ends of this band are'attachedto the ends of handle members 2 and 3 which are pivoted by a convenient screw or rivet at t and provided on their outer ends with scissor-like handles comprising the finger holds 5; It will be noted that the main portions of the handle members 2 and 3 have their ends downturned at substantially a right angle so that the said hair dlcs are disposed in a plane offset at some distance. from the plane of the hoop formed by member 1. The ends of the handles are of somewhat enlar 'ed substantially cylindrical shape and have flattened portions 2, and the ends of the band 1 are bentaround these flattened portions. The ends of the band are thus held from vertical movement on the ends of the handles and are furthermore. given a bearing thereon of considerable length so that the band is effectively kept from twisting relatively to the handles. The band will thus always be maintained with its flat surface extendingsubstantially normal to the plane of the hoop formed thereby. It will also be noted that the main straight portion of the handle 2 is slightly longer than the similar portion of the handle 3 so that when the hoop is brought to contracted position, as shown in Fig. 3, the ends thereof are engaged to form a stop so that the handles will not move to reversed or crossed position.

In operation, the have; will be held by one h and and the device will be held in the other with the fingers engaged through the finger holds 5. The device will be contracted, as shown in Fig. 3, and may thus readily be inserted into the bag. The handles are then released or allowed to separate as the hoop 1 expands and the latter will engage the sides of the bag and expand the same into substantially wide open position. The outer sides of the band are formed with outwardly projecting punch portions or points 1 to give a friction surface to engage the sides of the bag, so that the device will be frictionally held therein by its own expansive force. After the device is engaged in the sack or bag, illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be maintained therein without any further holding by the ugh V operator and the bag'can then be filled, as

desired.

7 The device has Very little weight and can'be eas ly manipulated to be placed 111 the'bag and Wlll thus readily maintain its position therein. The handle portions project over the top edge of the bag owing to "their oi'tset portions and no part of the deice is in the way in the filling operation in actual practice.

' rious changes may be'madein the form, dei It will, of course, be understood that vatai.l.s:and arr: ngement of the device without 1 departing from the scope of applicantsinvcntion which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

That is claimed is: a

1( A ba'g'inouth opener-comprising a'resilient band bent to form an expansible hoop, and lever manipulating means adapted to be grasped in, one hand secured to the ends handles.

thereof extending laterally therefrom substantially parallel to the plane of the hoop.

' ZJThge structure set forth in claim 1, said manipulating means being oilset from the plane of said hoop whereby the means-will project ore]: the top edge of thebag when the hoop is disposed therein.

3. A bag mouth opener comprising are silient'band bentfto torm' an' expansible hoop, a manipulating member secured to each end of sa id-lmnd, said members being pivoted together and having handles outsideof said pivot whereby the'said handles formed as' V geth'er to contract said hoop and said hoop will automatically expand to separate said 4E. The structure set forth and the ends of the band being different The structure set forth in claim 3, the ends of the handles to whichthe ends of the band are connected beingdown-turned at substantially a rlght angle to then main portion. a V

In testimony whereof we ailix our signa tures. i r 5 q a ALFRED J. LA GRANDEU \if EDWARD O; ANDERSON; i

a pair of scissors handles maybe moved to- V in claim 3,"the 7 lengths of; the handles between the said pivot 

